Footwear



Aug. 11, 1931. N. D. MATT'ISON 1,818,730

' FOOTWEAR Filed Aug. 22. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Aug. 11, 1931.

N. D. MATTISON FOOTWEAR Filed Aug. 22. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l NVENTOR ATTORNEY- v Patented Aug. 11, 1931 PATENT OFFICE NORMAN D. MATTISON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FOOTWEAR Application filed August 22, 1929. Serial No. 387,763.

This invention relates to shoes and other footwear (herein referred to as shoes) and more especially to the construction of the insoles of shoes. It is the chief object of the invention to improve shoes and the insoles used in them with a View to promoting correct foot balance, inducing normal muscular action in the foot, and tralning the foot to correct habits.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe embodyin features of this invention, certain parts of t e shoe being cut away;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of part of an insole of the shoe shown in Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 are transverse sectional views through the shank portion of insoles con structed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing approximately the outlines of the plantar surface of a foot in balanced and pronated po-- sitions, respectively; and

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of one form of my invention.

Examination of a large number of feet has demonstrated that when a normal foot is in a balanced condition on a level surface the weight is supported on approximately that ortion of the bottom of the foot indicated y the area A, bounded b the dot and dash line Fig. 5. It will be 0 served that practically all of this area forward of the heel lies at the outer side of the longitudinal axis of the foot, indicated by the line B-C, and that none, or at most very little, of the weight is borne by the surface under the inner end of the forward transverse arch, or, in other words, under the ball of the great toe joint. With the wei ht so distributed the muscular action of the oot in walking is directed along approximately a line passing through the cuboid region F in what is sometimes called the cuboid stream, and very little effort is directed along the scaphoid stream, or inner longitudinal arch.

Examination of a very great number of defective feet shows that one of the most common foot defects and that often attributed to arch trouble of some kind, consists 50 of an inward rolling of the foot so that the weight, instead of being distributed as above described, is partially shifted to the inner side of the longitudinal axis B-'-C. In this position the weight on the forepart of the foot is distributed over an area approximately like that bounded by the dotted line D,'Fig. 5, and the outer longitudinal arch of the foot has risen somewhat, the degree of such rise depending largely on the peculiarities of individual cases. It may be such that so no substantial part of the weight of the body rests on the plantar surface under the outer longitudinal arch, the weight being borne by the areas D and E, or there maybe a shift of the weight on to arch surfaces lying inwardly, or toward the left, Fig. 5, of the area A. In a typical case there is a combination of thesetwo actions, the weight on the cuboid region F, Fig. 5, of the foot being reduced to an undesirable degree, accompanied by a considerable shift of the weight inwardly.

The foregoing description refers more particularly to the conditions obtaining when a person is standing on both feet but much the same conditions are found in the distribution of weight in correct and faulty feet during the act of walking. A normal foot in correct balance with both the heel and forepart on the ground during the act of ,walking carries most of the weight on apso proximately the area A, Fig. 5, the pressure on the plantar surface of the forepart being much heavierat the outerjside to the axis B'--C, Fig. 5, than at the inner side, and very little pressure is exerted at this particular time on the great toe joint. As the heel lifts and the body progresses forward a shift of the weight occurs, the weight being delivered directly and evenly to the entire ball of the foot and the foot hinging evenly at the ankle without inrolling. In a pronated foot with the heel and forepart resting on the ground during walking there is a decided shift of the weight (compared to the correct position) toward the inner. side of the axis B-C, Fig. 96 5, and the pressures which should be external, or at the outer side of this axis, are exerted internal to it, the great toe joint receiving pressure which should be borne by the cuboid region F. As the heel lifts and 100 the body progresses forward, an excessive part of the pressure comeson the great toe joint with a resultant irritation and undue indications of this faulty foot balance and incorrect distribution of weight.

The present invention proposes to overcome these difiiculties by creating a con sciousness of and a demand for proper balance.

, I have found that this can be done by making the surface of the insole on which the weight should bear, particularly in the shank, at a higher level than the part of the insole just inside said area. In other words, the portion of the shank surface of the insole on which the weight is placed by a normal foot in proper balance is made higher than the adjacent portion immediately inside and on which no weight should be borne. The rearward part of the upper surface of the shank and the heel of the insole should be substantially on the same level, as in most shoes, the level subsiding gradually as it extends forward to the forepart. This higher level of the weight bearing part of the insole may be produced by cementing a pad or a thickening piece of felt, sponge rubber, leather, or other suitable material on the surface of the insole of the shoe, the pad having substantially the shape of that part of the area A, Fig. 5, at the rear of the line G.

A shoe having an insole of this construction is shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. This shoe may be made by any suitable method of manufacture, such as the McKay, Goodyear or stitch-down processes, the resent invention not being concerned wit the method used. The insole 3 preferably is made of leather, and as shown in these figures includes a pad or thickening member 40f substantially the outline above described and of any suitable material cemented, sewed or otherwise secured to the upper surface of the insole.

Instead of using a pad or thickening member the material of the insole may be cut away along the inner area of the shank, thus leaving the part under the outer longitudinal arch which is to take the weight at a higher elevation than the other parts of the shank. Such a construction is indicated at 3, Figs. 4,15 and 6, which show a loose or .slip innerso e.

Whatever the construction used, the upper surface of the insole is divided longitudinally through the shank and the adjacent portions of the heel and forepart to provide inner and outer areas, both extending longitudinally of the insole, the outer area serving to support the entire plantar surface under the outer longitudinal arch of the foot, when the foot 1s in a balanced position, and the inner area being free of weight and located at a mate.- rially lower elevation than the outer area.- Preferably a fairly abrupt shoulder separates these areas and the surface of neither area is inclined laterally to any substantial degree. In other words they are laterally level.

The wearer of a shoe constructed in this manner is made aware of whether his foot is in a balanced or inwardly rolled (pronated) position by the sensations produced in his foot whenever it rolls inwardly to any substantial degree away from its normal and correct position. This difference in sensation is produced by the fact that the area through the shank and certain parts of the heel and forepart, which should not take weight, are at a lower elevation than those areas which should bear Weight. When the foot rolls into such a position as to shift the weight inwardly to any substantial degree, the sensation of rolling off its support tends to make the foot correct its position automatically by reflex action, just as would be the case if the wearer were walking on a rail. If the raised portion is made of a material such as felt, rubber, or other substance which creates a different tactile sensation from that of the upper surface of the insole, the action above described is even more pronounced. The construction is unique in that it tends to make the act of walking unconscious so long as the foot position is correct and the muscular action normal, but causes any substantial inward rolling of the foot to create a sensation which makes the foot bring itself back into a balanced condition again. The tend-,

ency, therefore, is to train the foot into proper habits and to create in the foot itself the demand for correct balance and normal muscular action.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. An inner sole member for a shoe including a shank portion having a relatively long, narrow laterally level area for supporting the plantar surface of the outer longitudinal arch of the foot in a balanced position, and an area extending longitudinally of the shank between its inner edge and said supporting area and located at a lower level than said supporting area, said supporting area being substantially non-resilient throu hout and effective to normally maintain the cot spaced from said second area.

2. An inner sole member for a shoe including a shank portion having a relatively long,

narrow laterally level area for supporting the plantar surfaces of the heel, forepart and outer longitudinal arch of the foot in a balanced position, and an area extending longitudinally of the shank between its inner edge and said supportin area and located at a lower level than said su porting area, said su porting area being ormed of material ering a uniform reaction or counterpressure to the weight imposed by the foot and effective to normally maintain the foot spaced from said second area.

3. An inner sole member for a shoe includ-. ing a shank portion having its upper surface divided along the central re ion thereof to provide inner and outer areasi'oth extending longitudinally thereof, said outer area serving to support approximately the entire plantar surfaceof the outer longitudinal arch of the foot in a balanced position and said inner area being located at a materiall lower elevation than said outer area an being formed by reducing the thickness of that ortion of the shank extending from the inner edge of the member to the edge of the outer area, said areas being integral with the v insole, and separated, from each other by a shoulder.

4. A shoe including an inner sole having a surface to engage and support only the plantar surfaces of the heel, forepart and outer longitudinal arch when the foot is in a balanced position, said surfaces in the rearward part of the shank and the adjacent portion of the heel being on substantially the same level, the upper surface of the shank including an area extending longitudinally thereof between its inner edge and said sup-.

porting surface of the shank, located at a lower level than said supporting surface, and a relatively abrupt shou der separating said areas in the shank portion of the insole.

NORMAN D. MATTISON. 

